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May 04, 2024
 

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CLASSICAL

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2018
Soundtracking the thrill of the climb in Jennifer Peedom's 'Mountain'
With "Mountain," director Jennifer Peedom has done for the mountaineering film what Marks & Spencer's did for food advertisements years ago: taken the concept and beautified it to such an extent that it provokes a visceral response. Salivating over the movie's visual perfection is the only appropriate reaction.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2018
Violinist Aiko Goto returns to Japan with an Australian orchestra in tow
Aiko Goto is excited to be going home. The violinist has been a member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra since 1998 and it has been a while since she and her fellow musicians have visited Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2018
You too can grace the stage at Suntory Hall
Concert halls aren't just venues to enjoy music, they're landmarks. And among the many scattered around Tokyo, Suntory Hall has had the distinction of being described as a "jewel box of sound" by Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan (1908-89).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 13, 2017
The year's not over till you hear Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
It's "Beethoven season." The run-up to the new year has long been marked in Japan with performances of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 — known here simply as "daiku" — gloriously performed by large orchestras featuring around 80 instrumentalists and some 100 choir members or more.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 2, 2017
Master class: Conductor Seiji Ozawa passes on his knowledge to a new generation
An old piano sits by a window in the corner of a tiny room in Seiji Ozawa's office in Tokyo's Seijo neighborhood. The 82-year-old conductor's father apparently bought it for him more than 70 years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 8, 2017
Klassik Underground attempts to shake up your typical classical music performance
Roppongi isn't the first place that jumps to mind when you're looking to have a night out with Beethoven. A concert hall with plush velvet seats, women in pearls listening to Symphony No. 9 — that's more of a Ginza thing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 13, 2017
The cultural legacy of erhu artist WeiWei Wuu
When erhu artist WeiWei Wuu took to the stage at Shanghai Concert Hall on April 30, she delivered a show that could be described as out of the ordinary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 20, 2017
The amateur members of Tokyo Symphony Chorus perform like true professionals
The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) opens its 2017/18 season on April 22 at Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, but the performance will be lacking one crucial element during the opening piece: the orchestra.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KNOWING KISSATEN
Mar 24, 2017
Tokyo's classical music cafes are time capsules for audiophiles
In this age of musical abundance, it's hard to fathom that an LP once cost the equivalent of a few days' wages in Japan. In the 1950s, audiophiles who couldn't afford to buy their own music did their listening at coffee shops known as meikyoku kissaten ("musical masterpiece cafes"), which boasted high-end audio gear and extensive libraries of classical or jazz records.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KNOWING KISSATEN
Feb 24, 2017
Tokyo's retro coffee palaces are in a class entirely their own
The archetypical kissaten (traditional coffee shop) would probably be a cozy neighborhood joint with faded '60s decor, one of those vintage pink pay phones that only take ¥10 coins and a couple of elderly customers smoking furiously as they squint over their newspapers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 5, 2017
Passion rules in Japan's amateur orchestras
Classical music has always been a big part of Ikuo Nakajima's life. He never became a professional trumpeter, opting instead to become a managing engineer, but that hasn't stopped him from performing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 9, 2016
Review: Yoshiki at Tokyo International Forum
Despite being billed as a solo tour, X Japan's Yoshiki Hayashi's "Yoshiki Classical" tour is undoubtedly deeply rooted in the lore of one of the biggest rock acts of the country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 17, 2016
Yoshiki prepares for classical tour amid a new appreciation for his legacy
Not many musicians are able to say that they've taken the stage at both New York City's Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall, two of the most prestigious venues in rock and classical music, respectively. Drummer, pianist and songwriter Yoshiki Hayashi, however, is stepping up to take claim of that title.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 16, 2016
Orchestra from Jerusalem to tour Japan
Classical music fans in Japan are set for a treat when the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra conducts its first tour of this country from Nov. 19 through Dec. 4.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2016
Takashi Niigaki emerges from the ashes of a scandal with a symphony to call his own
On Feb. 6, 2014, composer Takashi Niigaki faced a crowd of reporters at the Hotel New Otani in Tokyo and took a deep and apologetic bow. He had just revealed that he was ghostwriter for Mamoru Samuragochi, who was celebrated as "Japan's Beethoven" before being exposed as a fraud. Niigaki confessed to the room that, by remaining silent, he felt he was complicit in the deceit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 2, 2016
Composers Joe Hisaishi and Philip Glass team up for a special performance
The term "contemporary classical music" may sound straightforward, but it isn't. That is why one of Japan's most influential composers has made it his mission to guide people through what is essentially a sonic labyrinth.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 20, 2016
'Maverick' conductor Yoshikazu Fukumura finds a home with Philippine orchestra
At the start of this month, Yoshikazu Fukumura took up the post of music director for the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, whose sound he describes as unique in Asia.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Apr 6, 2016
Tokyo violin maker's apprentice fulfills lifetime dream at 81
Japan Times Community article rekindled Tokyo academic's thwarted 70-year ambition to craft a thing of beauty.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 20, 2015
Chopin competition winner focuses on art
These days the road to fame often starts with a viral video on YouTube, but Korean pianist Seong-jin Cho took the classic route — he won a music competition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 22, 2015
Mono guitarist Goto revisits past compositions on 'Classical Punk and Echoes Under the Beauty'
In 2014, instrumental rock band Mono released two LPs simultaneously: "The Last Dawn" and "Rays of Darkness." The albums stripped the band's sound down to its bare essentials, eschewing the orchestral sounds it had become known for and instead going for the sound of a raw rock band with two emotional sides: a light and dark side.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

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The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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